Burocracia

I've not been sleeping well here for some reason, which I'm surprised by as I'm able relatively well to focus on this Mozambique mission, rather than being pulled in numerous directions. Underlying anxiety at not delivering on certain things usually contributes to poor sleep.

I've been roving around the city trying to unravel various bureaucratic processes. The signatories on our bank account need to change, and this requires me to track down a Brit and a Mozambican who have both left the organisation but who need to physically sign a piece of paper. Then I have to fax all the documentation to a mysterious service centre that cannot be visited in person. As we nibbled on samosas, a colleague from a partner Mozambican NGO said today that Mozambique has the dastardly combination of Portuguese bureaucracy and socialism. He also described a restaurant as 'furiously expensive', which I liked and will start to use. This picture shows some of the new commercial development in the downtown area of Maputo. One of the banks I need to harangue is here.

I was invited to eat falafel in the evening, where I was around the table with others who have lived in Cambodia. A lot of people have worked there and in Mozambique. Then a lovely leafy outdoor bar called Treehouse where the evening temperature was perfect and the gin went down a treat. I'm drinking a fair bit of gin on this trip, and I didn't imagine that would be a thing.